Detailled Information

Name of the Instrument/Tool Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)
First Description

Cleeland CS, Ryan KM. Pain assessment: global use of the Brief Pain Inventory. Ann Acad Med Singap. 1994 Mar;23(2):129-38.

Year 1994
Domains
Concept of constructs Pain
Population/Disease Generic
Originally developed for Any RMD
Other rheumatic diseases
where can be applied (only if validated)
---
Additional population with no rheumatic diseases Yes
Cancer populations
Language: Originally published in English
Available in Language French, Slovak, Norwegian, Italian, Spanish, Amharic, Slovenian, Russian, English, Turkish, Chinese, Czech, Japanese, Croatian, Romanian, Arabic, Greek, Filipino, German, Korean
REFERENCE IDENTIFICATION
Author/s Cleeland CS, Ryan KM
Title Pain assessment: global use of the Brief Pain Inventory
Journal Ann Acad Med Singap
Year 1994
Vol 23
Num 2
Pages 129-38
Country US
Language English
Other references of interest
Link https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26303366/
Brief Description

The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)

Link https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15322437/
Brief Description

Validity of the brief pain inventory for use in documenting the outcomes of patients with non-cancer pain

Link https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33091243/
Brief Description

Measures for the Assessment of Pain in Adults

Instrument/Tool Translations References
Link https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12570914/
Brief Description

Validation of the Spanish version of the Brief Pain Inventory in patients with oncological pain

Link https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12547051/
Brief Description

The Norwegian brief pain inventory questionnaire: translation and validation in cancer pain patients

Link https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36131337/
Brief Description

Evaluating the validity of the Amharic Brief Pain Inventory among people with chronic primary musculoskeletal pain in Ethiopia. 

DEVELOPER CONTACT INFORMATION
Correspondence to Charles S. Cleeland
E-Mail symptomresearch@mdanderson.org
Address MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 1450, Houston, TX 77030
Website https://www.mdand​erson.org/resea​rch/depar​tments-labs-insti​tutes/​depar​tments-divis​ions/sympt​om-resea​rch/sympt​om-asses​sment-tools/​brief-pain-inven​tory.html
Available ---
Links ---
DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTRUMENT
Type Of Measure Score
Brief Description

The BPI assesses the presence of pain, pain intensity (worst, least, average, and current), pain location (body map), and the impact of pain interference on general activity, mood, walking ability, normal work, relationships with others, sleep, and life enjoyment. It also assists in documenting the types of pain medications being used and the amount of relief provided by those medications and other pain treatments.

Item 1 asks about the presence of pain (yes/no). Item 2 is a body map and asks the respondent to shade all areas of pain and to then place an X on the area that hurts the most. Items 3 to 6 (pain intensity items: worst, least, average, and current) utilize an 11-point rating scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (pain as bad as you can imagine). Item 7 is an open-ended response field for listing pain medications. Item 8 (percentage of pain relief from medications or pain treatments) uses a 0% (no relief) to 100% (complete relief) response scale. Item 9 has seven parts representing different aspects of pain interference (general activity, mood, walking ability, normal work, relationships with others, sleep, and life enjoyment). 

Number of Items 15
Range 0-10
Responses options/scale Yes
Item 1: yes/no; item 2: Shade areas of pain; items 3-6: 11-point rating scale; item 7: open-ended response; item 8: 0-100%; item 9: between 0-10
Developed for Clinical practice, Research
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Method of administration Self-administered, Interviewer/assessor
Recommendations to score

Some of the items represent single-item values and do not require scoring (eg, pain relief). The pain severity score is obtained by calculating the mean of the four pain severity items. The pain interference score is obtained by calculating the mean of the seven pain interference items. The BPI is easily scored by hand.

The pain severity score ranges between 0 and 10. The pain interference score similarly has a range of 0 to 10.

Score Interpretation Larger values represents greater pain severity
Cut-off points ---
Cut-off points applied to ---
Smallest detectable change if described ---
Smallest detectable change applied to ---
Completion time by the patient 5 minutes
Scoring time by the assessor <5 minutes
Training to score Not necessary
Strengths Easy to use, Useful in clinical practice & research
Limitations ---
OTHER COMMENTS
Other Comments ---